my $sql = "insert into foo values (?,?,?)"; my @binds = qw/alpha beta gamma/; { my $i = 0; $sql =~ s/\?/ $dbh->quote( $binds[$i++] ) /ge; } # "insert into foo values ('alpha','beta','gamma')" #### my $sql = "insert into foo values (?, ?)"; my @binds = ("Huh?", "What?"); # correct: "insert into foo values ('Huh?', 'What?')" # mysqlPP: "insert into foo values ('Huh'What?'', ?)"